Police say they have found “no evidence” that Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale — publicly denounced as a lurker, stalker, peeping Tom and potential “sicko” by the Ford brothers — went onto the mayor’s property or peered over his fence last week.

On Wednesday afternoon, Dale was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing when Toronto police ended their investigation and announced they will not be laying charges.

“I closed off the investigation,” Det. Tricia Johnston told Dale in a phone conversation. “There’s nothing left to do.”

“You’re not being charged.”

In media interviews over the past week, Mayor Rob Ford — and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford — have repeatedly alleged that Dale is a “peeping Tom” who was “in my backyard,” “lurking in the bushes,” “standing on cinder blocks” and “taking pictures of my kids and family.”

Dale said he never stepped foot on Ford’s property last Wednesday night, took no photographs over the fence, and was only researching a public interest story on the mayor’s bid to buy public parkland adjacent to his property — a rare request for a private citizen.

Ford confronted Dale behind his property after being alerted by a neighbour, and police were called to his home for a “possible trespass” at 8:10 p.m. In a press conference shortly after, Ford told reporters he wanted to press charges against Dale.

The next day, Dale voluntarily went to a police station to give a statement and was asked to give what’s dubbed a “KGB statement,” which is videotaped, under oath and admissible in court.

The investigation was closed Wednesday afternoon, after police accepted Dale’s invitation to view relevant photos, videos and emails on his BlackBerry, which had been in police custody since the night of the incident.

In the presence of Dale and his lawyer, police analyzed the phone and found no photographs or videos taken the night of the incident.

The sole photograph Dale recalls taking — which he said would have captured trees in the park behind Ford’s house, along with the mayor’s back fence — failed to save on his BlackBerry because the battery died as he was snapping the photograph.

Ford has also said that surveillance cameras on his home captured Dale’s head “bobbing up and down” over his backyard fence. He gave the footage to police but has refused to release it to the media.

Johnston would not say what was on the video but said a “thorough investigation” was conducted and she found no evidence to suggest Dale was ever on the mayor’s property or looked over his fence.

“No (there is no evidence you were doing those things). Because if you were, then you would’ve been charged,” Johnston told Dale. “I didn’t find any evidence to substantiate a charge.”

Ford’s neighbour, Zdravko Gagro, has also since refused to verify what the mayor alleges he saw, including on Wednesday when the Star notified him that the investigation was being closed.

Police would not say whether Gagro or Ford were also asked to give KGB statements.

Spokesperson Const. Wendy Drummond said they are common in investigations. But criminal lawyers say KGB statements are typically used in domestic abuse probes and for witness statements, not for persons under investigation.

“The vast majority of KGBs — overwhelming majority — are of witnesses, not potential accused or suspects,” said lawyer Howard Morton, a former Crown attorney and SIU head.

“Yeah, that’s kind of weird,” agreed criminal lawyer John Scarfe, who has been practising for over 20 years. “On a case that minor, it tends to be very rare.”

According to Dale’s account of what occurred on the evening of May 2, the mayor ran at him with a “cocked fist,” intimidated him to the point where he was “more frightened than I can remember,” and repeatedly demanded that he drop his cellphone, which Dale eventually did, along with his tape recorder.

Dale said his cellphone batteries were drained when he surrendered his BlackBerry to Ford shortly before 8 p.m. Phone records show, however, that his cellphone was used at 8:37 p.m. to call Robert Andreacchi, executive assistant to Councillor Maria Augimeri and the last person in his phone log.

It is not known who charged Dale’s phone, which police have now returned to him. Emails stored in his phone indicate, however, that it was likely powered about 25 minutes after Dale’s encounter with Ford — an email sent to him at 7:51 p.m. by a Star editor was not received until 8:17 p.m. (The email was acknowledging the receipt of two sentences Dale wished to add to his story that day.)

Last week, lawyer Reid Rusonik told the Star that if indeed Ford had charged the phone and used it, he may have technically committed a crime. Dale has not made a criminal complaint against Ford, however, and police say they have found no evidence to warrant charges.

Calls to the mayor’s office were not returned late Wednesday, but in a media scrum at city hall, Doug Ford told reporters, “The incident is done as far as I’m concerned.”

“It’s done. It’s just one of many things that we dealt with with the Star, and there’s going to be many more,” he said. “As I said yesterday, I don’t believe it’s Daniel Dale. I believe he was sent there by his superiors and that goes back to their credibility.

“You don’t go to the mayor’s house, you know, without having approval from someone higher up. That’s what I hear.”

Dale has said in several interviews that it was his decision to examine the parkland near the mayor’s property. On Twitter Wednesday, Dale paraphrased the contents of an email exchange he had with editor Doreen Martens prior to heading out to Ford’s neighbourhood.

Martens asked if he felt it was truly necessary to go.

Dale replied in an email at 5:20 p.m.: “I’m not sure, but I really think it’s necessary to be able to say exactly what the land looks like. The TRCA (Toronto and Region Conservation Authority) official said there are ‘mature trees’ on the supposedly ‘vacant’ site — if there are like eight trees or something, I think that’s important.”

Dale said Wednesday he knew from the start he had done nothing wrong and was never worried he would be charged.

“Given the many false things that have been said about me this week, though, it’s nice to have the police acknowledge that there’s no evidence whatsoever to support the mayor’s unfounded accusations,” he said. “I hope we can all get back to work now.”

With files from Paul Moloney

-

THE FORD VERSION

On Wednesday, investigators said they found no evidence that Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale entered Rob Ford’s property or peered over his fence last week — contrary to what the mayor and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, have been alleging all week in media interviews.

MAY 2 (press scrum)

Rob Ford:

Daniel Dale from the Toronto Star was on cinder blocks in my backyard, taking pictures.

We’ve got him on camera … (if) anyone wants to question if he was lurking over the fence … you see his head bobbing, the police saw it, and this is not normal. (NewsTalk 1010)

SUNDAY

Rob Ford:

You know what, folks, when someone is peering over your fence — I’ve got an 8-foot fence — and says they weren’t and then sits here and tries to call my neighbours liars — it was a neighbour that saw him on these concrete blocks — enough is enough. (NewsTalk 1010)

Doug Ford:

This is more than Daniel Dale. This is more than Daniel Dale sitting in the bushes like a stalker waiting outside someone’s house. (NewsTalk 1010)

TUESDAY

Doug Ford:

It’s not Daniel Dale so much when he’s told, “Go hide in the bushes up in the mayor’s house” and not one single person in this press gallery would do that, and I don’t think Daniel Dale would do it, he’s a good guy in my opinion. (At a city hall press scrum, following his weigh-in)

WEDNESDAY

Doug Ford:

Again, it’s not Daniel Dale. It’s the Toronto Star directing him to do this in my opinion. So, good for Daniel Dale. If he decides to come over again, he should maybe make a phone call and we’ll leave him some biscuits outside the fence every night. (At a city hall press scrum.)

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.